I am delighted to host the lovely and talented Christian Inspirational author Mesu Andrews. Ms. Andrews book "Love Amid the Ashes" re-tells the biblical story of Job and Dinah from the Old Testament. It is a powerful tale of trust and redemption. I have written a book review here.

Mary:

Mesu, I absolutely LOVED the book. What inspired you to tell this moving tale of Job and his family?

Mesu:

Curiosity at first. Ministry at last. From the first commentary I opened, I

found Job's wife fascinating. I'd always wondered about her. Did she lose

her faith or did she have any to begin with? Did she end up at his side or

in the ground? But curiosity turned to compassion and compassion to intrigue

as I discovered Job's family connection to Esau (Job considered by many

commentators to be "Jobab" in Genesis 36). When research grabs me at the

beginning, I know that the Lord plans to work in my heart through the story

I'll write. And since I had worked through the Scripture of Job when I was

diagnosed years before with my own chronic illnesses, I knew this story

would change me. Many of the emotions in the story are so real because they

were real to me and to my family as we endured changes during my adjustments

to illness. None of our trials were nearly so great as Job's, but I think

everyone endures times of grief that affect the whole family, when each

member must work through his/her own emotions. This is the ministry piece

that came during the writing and I hope happens as readers are swept into

Job's world.

Mary:

How long did it take to do the research for this project? What advice

would you give to authors writing historical fiction?

Mesu:

I researched for about three months before I did any writing. Then the itch

just got too great, and I had to write a few scenes! But honestly, I

researched the whole time I was writing, and the project required a little

over a year to complete. Even that is a cheated estimate. It doesn't

account for the years of biblical fiction I've read or the dozens of times

I've read the Book of Job straight through. To write historical fiction, I

need to immerse myself in this world, and even then I can make mistakes. For

example, I had written that Job's wife loved silk. My good friend, Jill

Eileen Smith read the manuscript and mentioned that her research had shown